Team Spirit

Chapter 221 Green Gunman, Window Cup

Pond Convenience Store.

During today's assembly, Alfred announced that Ashley Young had been promoted to first vice-captain of the team.

Ashley Young was overjoyed and treated the entire team to milk tea after practice: "It's my treat today, everyone order whatever you like!"

Curly-haired Sterling, who was visiting today's training session as an outstanding youth trainee, was overjoyed: "Really? Then I want to drink a whole bucket of Coconut Family Milk Tea, with double the amount of crème brûlée, milk foam, taro balls, qingtuan (a type of glutinous rice ball), mochi, and pearls!"

Vardy quickly patted Sterling's vest to shut him up.

My team's deputy, Xiao Hei, turned pale.

Henderson, who was determined to latch onto Ashley Young's coattails, quickly chimed in: "Anyway, we're still pretty basic right now, so let's just order the basic milk tea."

Immediately, everyone ordered the cheapest milk teas.

Ashley Young's mood finally brightened.

Then everyone started talking about the nicknames they got from Zhong Guo. Don't underestimate these nicknames; they represent popularity.

Players with nicknames tend to be much more popular.

Ramsey, nicknamed "The Grim Reaper of the Chinese National Football Team," is incredibly handsome and very popular, despite being only a youth team player.

Aubameyang is nicknamed "Black Monkey King" by fans because of his kicking and jumping motion after scoring a goal with his buttocks.

At first, he was very unhappy, because monkeys are not a good thing for black people.

But after learning that "Wukong" is the most popular superhero in Chinese mythology, Aubameyang readily accepted.

Ashley Young likes to mock Modric as a "vomiter".

Modric called him "One-Leg Man".

Ribery learned that he was called "Scarface" by Chinese fans.

Vardy was known as "British Star" and "Green Gun Prince".

Giroud is known as "Karter," a nickname Lu Kai mentioned in an interview. Nobody knew what it meant, but they thought it was cute.

Al-Nison is JR.

Sterling and Kane, two young players, also have a high appearance rate in the team and are affectionately called "Sterling" and "Kane" by fans.

Pepe originally had an afro, but after hanging out with Patton, he felt the afro wasn't fierce enough, so he shaved his head and earned the nickname "Monk Warrior".

Li Weifeng, captain of the Chinese team.

Smalling, son of Kent.

Scott is quite knowledgeable in goalkeeper coaching, and he is respectfully called "Coach" by everyone.

Kompany's nickname is "Big Head," which was also one of Li Weifeng's early nicknames, but when people compared them, Kompany's head was bigger.

Vidic, the European giant.

Bonucci, a homophone for "winnowing basket" in Chinese.

As a veteran, Kelo was greeted with shouts of "Towel Bro" from fans during his trip to China, and many people asked for his autograph, making him one of the most popular players on the team.

He loved the title very much.

Felipe Luis is simply referred to as "Felipe Luis".

Neuer's nickname is "Shin-chan," which is related to the meaning of his name.

Joe Hart was nicknamed "Little Joe," a name derived from the Three Kingdoms period, referring to his elegant saves and also to his handsome appearance.

Van der Sar earned the nickname "Calm Cat" early in his career.

Mertens is known as the "Green Maradona," and Valbuena was the last player to receive this title, which is enough to prove that everyone recognizes his strength.

Chen Tao is known as the "Chinese Zidane". He performed exceptionally well in the warm-up matches during this trip to China, demonstrating his immense talent.

The evil Patton is an old name, no need to elaborate.

As for me, Lu, there are simply too many.

Emperor Lu, Emperor Kai, Emperor Green, King of Guns, Lu Zhuxi, Captain Lu, Penguin Emperor...

After everyone chatted around, they discovered that only Marcelo didn't have a nickname.

Some people reluctantly suggested calling him "Little Cicinho".
Marcelo was very unhappy about this.

The reason he doesn't have a nickname is that he's new here and the fans aren't familiar with him.

Secondly, he has had very few opportunities to perform so far.

Marcelo felt inferior. He pretended to need to use the restroom, but actually went inside and burst into tears.

But when he came out, he found Lu Kai guarding the door.

“Captain Lu, I…I didn’t cry.” Marcelo’s eyes were red.

Lu Kai nodded and said, "Actually, it's very simple to get a nickname, as long as it's unique. Your unique characteristics in the competition won't be easily noticed by everyone in a short time."

"Then we can learn from Beckham and Ronaldo and give the audience a shock in terms of appearance."

"Actually, I think you could try growing out your hair into a fluffy style."

"This will make you look very imposing and will enhance your defensive capabilities to some extent."

Marcelo nodded excitedly: "Great idea! Thank you, Captain Lu!"

……

Before the official start of the new season, UEFA announced the Champions League group stage draw for this season.

Since there are five Premier League spots this year, theoretically some teams could meet in the group stage.

Unfortunately for Green Gunners, they encountered Premier League giants Manchester United.

In Champions League Group D, the teams are Manchester United, Benfica, Dartford, and Villarreal.

It's absolutely impossible for UEFA to say that they didn't take any action.

The story of Manchester United and the Green Gunners is no less significant than their story with Arsenal.

Both Green Gunners and Benfica are notorious for their shady dealings. How much business has Green Gunners stolen from the top clubs in the Portuguese and Dutch leagues? They've been wanting to take down Green Gunners for a long time.

Villarreal signed Forlán for a high price; can the Uruguayan still perform like a superstar against his former club?
This group has generated a lot of buzz.

The Community Shield Cup was launched on August 7th.

After winning the Community Shield three times in a row, Dartford failed to qualify for the competition this year.

The two teams facing off are Chelsea and Arsenal.

Ultimately, Chelsea defeated Arsenal 2-1 thanks to goals from former Chelsea players Didier Drogba and Andrea Arshavin.

People say that although Green Gun didn't participate in this game, Green Gun was always there.

This left Arsenal in a very awkward situation.

On August 9th, the first game after the Green Gun Stadium was officially handed over was the stadium's opening game!

This is also Dartford's last preseason friendly.

Dartford vs Charlton.

This is also the "good match" that Southgate made with Charlton at the end of last season.

After the Green Gun Stadium was handed over, its total capacity reached 47,000 people.

When the stadium was being built, people said Lu Kai was too reckless.

A low-level team can't even fill a stadium with 10,000 people, let alone 47,000.

As a result, people now have to praise Lu Kai for the correctness of his decision.

This season alone, season tickets have sold a lot.

It is estimated that the average number of fans watching the game will not be less than 40,000.

Green Gunners are also one of the teams with the best attendance in London in recent years.

Of course, Lu Kai himself was still not entirely satisfied with this.

If we hadn't been short of money back then, we should have just built a stadium with a capacity of 60,000.

but it does not matter.

The expansion plan was retained during the construction of Green Gun Stadium.

After one season, we can expand and renovate the stadium next summer, adding a few higher-level stands.

It should be no problem to reach a maximum capacity of 60,000 people.

Don't think this number is small. The largest home stadium in the Premier League is estimated to be Manchester United's 74,000 and Liverpool's Anfield Stadium's around 60,000.

Arsenal's new stadium only seats 60,000 people, and it's not even finished yet.

That means at least a top-four finish in the Premier League.

Even now, it ranks among the top teams in the Premier League.

In addition, the stadium's layout is very scientific and ranks among the best in Europe.

At the highest point of the stadium, a penguin logo is very eye-catching.

Today's opening pitch guest is Emma Watson, who plays Hermione in the Harry Potter series.

She stated that she is a Dartford fan.

Green Guns established the "female guest opening ceremony" as a regular event at the stadium.

There will be more of these kinds of arrangements before future competitions in order to give spectators a better experience beyond the competition itself.

This service... in one word... amazing!

Only new clubs can do this. If a traditional powerhouse like Arsenal dared to do the same, the old-fashioned fans and management would be furious.

The match ended in a thrilling 3-2 victory for Green Guns.

Ribery, Vidic, and Vardy all scored.

Motta and Lu Kai both provided assists.

After the match, Green Guns arranged an awards ceremony.

You heard right, today's match is sponsored.

The sponsor's initial request was that he could present the award to the winning team.

But Lu Kai said, "How can that be?"

The blond, chubby middle-aged man opposite him suddenly changed his expression and said excitedly, "Lu, you can't just kick me while I'm down! I'll be the title sponsor of the first game at Green Gun Stadium. We agreed on that a long time ago!"

Ivanka was also a little nervous. She hugged Lu Kai's arm and shook it softly, "Lu, don't tease my father. He has a temper like a child. Just talk to him directly."

Lu Kai then said to the blond fat man, "Donald, what I mean is, just giving out awards isn't enough. I've decided to name this warm-up tournament the 'Window Cup'!"

"We want your WindowPu Group logo laser-engraved on the trophy."

"This competition will continue to be held in the future."

“If you are available, we will invite you to come and present the award to the winning team every year.”

Donald was stunned.

He was absolutely ecstatic!
In recent years, he has been obsessed with increasing his fame, appearing in various films and television dramas.

But they spent a lot of money, and all they got was a few seconds of screen time, which is really disappointing.

Look how sincere Lu Kai is.

Window Cup!
This is simply making the Window family great again!
"I love you to death, Lu!" Tang Nadou was about to pounce on Lu Kai, but Lu Kai stopped her with his hand.

Ivanka's touch is much better than Donald's.

"Don't mention it. Just take me with you when you're doing stock trading for free in the future." Lu Kai reserved a spot for stock trading with Tang Nadou.

After all, Tang Nadou's friends were earning billions a day back then.

Don Natto couldn't understand, but that didn't affect his happiness.

Since Lu Kai has been so helpful, Tang Nadou cannot be impolite.

To match the theme of "Green Gun," Donald Tung, who came to present the award, specially wore a green suit and a green baseball cap today.

The hat says, "Make Green Gun Great Again!"

After the awards ceremony, Donald stood on the stage, unwilling to leave.

He wanted to get a photo with them, but he was too shy.

Even at this point, he still had a sense of shame.

A bewildered Ashley Young shoved Don Nadal away, saying, "Hey, we're taking a picture now, you can go down."

Tang Nadou smiled without saying a word and forced her way onto the stage.

In the end, it was Lu Kai who came over and gestured for Tang Nadou to stand in the very center.

And so, Tang Nadou appeared in the group photo of Green Guns winning the championship, sharing the center position with Lu Kai.

His position originally belonged to Ashley Young.

When taking the photo, Donald completely blocked Ashley Young.

Some videos even captured Ashley Young swearing.

"What on earth is this idiot trying to do?"

This is what Ashley Young said to Barton, who was sitting next to him.

However, the controversy surrounding this awards ceremony did not end there.

After the post-match interviews and celebrations, the Green Guns will take the trophy to the "trophy room".

This is also one of the functional areas of the new stadium – the Green Gun Museum!

It's also the new Green Gun convenience store, facing the Thames with a stunning river view from the viewing platform.

This place will be transformed into a high-end afternoon tea beverage shop.

This refers to the popular photo spots for food lovers that will frequently appear on Xiaohongshu in the future.

This is Greater London.

Such an occasion is destined to make him an instant sensation.

Milk tea that originally cost a few pounds to over ten pounds will become various "special blends" here, priced from twenty or thirty pounds, with flagship new products at fifty or sixty pounds, and super deluxe sets at over one hundred pounds.

This is still considered a reasonable price.

Several seats require advance reservations.

Of course, a private room for Lu Kai has always been reserved, as his business receptions have increased significantly recently.

“Lu, something’s happened.” Jiang Mengyun approached Lu Kai, who was visiting the museum, and after glancing at Ivanka beside him, she said, “When the museum was putting the items into storage, they discovered that the Window Cup trophy was missing.”

The players standing nearby were dumbfounded.

The trophy is gone?

what's the situation?
Ivanka's expression was quite remarkable.

Lu Kai couldn't help but laugh: "It's nothing. Our initial budget for this event included an extra trophy, so we specially commissioned two trophies because..."

Because Pu has a history of stealing the World Cup trophy and the Club World Cup!

Is it hard to guess where that missing trophy is?
"Um, this..." Ivanka's face flushed red with embarrassment, and she didn't know how to explain it to Lu Kai.

Lu Kai patted her shoulder: "It's okay, he really is like a child. If he likes it, we can give him the more prestigious trophies in the future."

Of course, it will cost extra!
Green Gun has plenty of trophies these days.

Tang Nadou has everything he needs now, except for honors.

In the evening, after everyone had finished their dinner, Donald offered to escort Lu Kai and Ivanka back to Lu Kai's villa.

As soon as he opened the door of his Rolls-Royce, the "Window Cup" appeared dazzlingly inside the car.

The scene was awkward.

Tang Nadou blushed, a rare occurrence, and said, "This, that..."

Lu Kai nodded. This reaction really was like that of a father and daughter.

“I heard about the construction period of Green Gun Amusement Park…” Lu Kai brought up the project that the two parties were cooperating on.

Don Nadou immediately patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, there will definitely be no delay. I'll go to the site tomorrow to oversee this!"

One word: Dedicated!
……

On August 13th, major leagues kicked off one after another.

In the first round of the Premier League, Dartford will host Manchester United.

This is a super war where Mars collides with Earth.

With a mix of old and new talent, and a near-complete rebuild, can Manchester United make a triumphant return this season?
Having completely disintegrated, will the newly emerging Green Gunners continue to fight for survival?
This battle might provide the answer.

Ninety minutes later, the atmosphere at Green Gun Stadium became slightly subdued.

One to three.

Greens lost at home and are now ranked 18th in the Premier League, facing relegation battle right from the start.

Ribery assisted Lu Kai to score the Green Gunners' only goal.

However, Manchester United had no choice but to unleash a three-pronged attack from Van Nistelrooy, Rooney, and Ronaldo.

Former Manchester United striker Michael Carrick started the match and delivered an outstanding performance, significantly improving Manchester United's defensive capabilities.

However, when the camera focused on Keane on the bench, everyone could see his angry expression.

His conflict with Ferguson had reached a fever pitch.

After the game, Manchester United captain Roy Keane even said, "If I had known I would be replaced by a kid, I should have gone to the Celtics!"
Keane's side put pressure on Ferguson.

He wants to return to the starting lineup.

Ferguson brought in Carrick, which was indeed unfair of him, and he didn't hold it against Keane, only thinking that he would part ways with Keane amicably after the end of this season.

August 21st, the second round of the Premier League.

Green Gunners defeated Bolton 2-0 away from home, moving up to eleventh in the standings.

Lu Kai scored in consecutive matches.

Chen Tao got the opportunity to come on as a substitute in this game and provided an assist.

August 24th, the third round of the Premier League.

Green Gunners lost 2-3 to West Ham United at home.

Their ranking has dropped to thirteenth.

Lu Kai has scored in three consecutive Premier League matches.

Everyone could tell that Lu Kai's playing style was different from last season.

This season, he seems to be somewhat focused on attacking the goal.

The European Super Cup is coming on August 28th!

(End of this chapter)